Bernstein : Chichester Psalms / Psalms from Foss, Marsh & Ives

Saturday, 13 June 2026, 19:30 - 22:00
Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, 146 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9BZ

Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms was commissioned by Chichester Cathedral's then Dean, Walter Hussey, for the Southern Choirs Festival held in the cathedral in 1965 with singers from Salisbury, Chichester and Winchester Cathedrals.  Hussey was a prolific champion of commissioning in the creative arts, and the Chichester Psalms was but one of many items to appear.  Although its UK premiere was in the 1965 Festival, its world premiere took place in New York two weeks earlier with Bernstein himself conducting.  He took extracts from Psalms 2, 23, 100, 108, 131 & 133, retained the text in Hebrew, and wrapped his typical vibrant, rhythmic, spiritual style around it, incorporating echoes of West Side Story.  It has become a unique work for peace and unity.

German-American composer Lukas Foss was a long-time friend of Leonard Bernstein, having met at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.   He wrote his simply-titled Psalms in 1956 and it draws on extracts from Psalms 23, 95 & 121 with Psalm 98 forming the main body of the work.

Fellow American, Charles Ives, took several decades to complete his Psalm 90, one of twelve Psalm settings he wrote and, according to his wife, the only one amongst his 600 or so compositions with which he was fully satisfied.

Coming full circle, the concert's programme is completed by British composer Joanna Marsh's A Psalm for Chichester (Psalm 90), linking back to Bernstein's text choice of unity and harmony.  To cement the link, this work was also commissioned by Chichester Cathedral to mark the Diocese's 950th Anniversary in 2025.   It was premiered by the Cathedral Choir in July 2025 in a concert that also included Bernstein's work in the same programme that night.

[Source information primarily from Wikipedia]

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